


The Things We Do For Love

by GoldenWaffles



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Nicole Haught Needs A Hug, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, it's so fluffy I'm gonna die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2019-11-04 04:12:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17891267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenWaffles/pseuds/GoldenWaffles
Summary: Nicole is used to being the tough one in relationships. She's the rock, the comforter, the protector. But sometimes even rocks need hugs. So after Nicole suffers through a long, hard day in the cold and rain, she gives in and lets her girlfriend make it all better.Just some nice fluff to get us through the dark times.





	1. Bad Day

**Author's Note:**

> This one has been on a back-burner for awhile, but it's one that I keep going back to, and I'm reasonably happy with the editing (for the first part, at least), so I figured it might be nice to post. Especially given all the real-life drama happening with our beloved shitshow over the past several days. And the way last season ended. We could all use some fluff.

Waverly Earp, youngest descendent of Wyatt Earp, shotgun crackshot, Ghost River Triangle historian, dead languages polyglot, and blanket enthusiast, was pulled from a particularly lovely dream about her girlfriend by the sound of said girlfriend’s phone alarm going off. From deep within a cocoon of fleece and fabric, she peeked her eyes open to watch Nicole roll towards the noise and touch the device to silence it. The phone dealt with, its red-haired owner pulled her long body into a huge stretch, her hands reaching up and grasping the headboard, her back arching off the bed before going slack again. It was a sight to behold.  
  
Outside in the still-dark morning, the wind howled, and under her four blankets, Waverly shivered at the sound. Noticing, as she always did, Nicole rolled over to lie against her, greeting her with a light, affectionate kiss. Her hair was mussed from the pillow, but her eyes were as warm as melted chocolate.  
  
“Morning,” she murmured, voice still hoarse from sleep. She nuzzled their heads together, and Waverly shifted her blankets apart until she could pull her closer.  
  
“Call in sick,” Waverly suggested, once they were comfortably snuggled together, her head tucked under Nicole’s chin. Ensconced in Nicole’s arms, the howling wind seemed a million miles away. Her girlfriend’s arms were warmer than any of her blankets, and her hands absentmindedly stroked her back, making her yawn.  
  
“I can’t,” the redhead sighed regretfully. “I’m covering for Lonnie.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Not sure. Knowing him, I’m assuming he licked an electrical socket or something—“  
  
Waverly rolled her eyes and shoved her shoulder. Nicole pretended to be flattened, sprawling melodramatically onto her back, and Waverly climbed partially on top of her, resting her head on her chest.  
  
“No, I mean why you? They always get you to cover for everyone,” she grumbled, trying not to sound as petulant as she felt. Taking advantage of their new position, Nicole began combing her fingers through her long brown hair, gently working out the worst of the night’s tangles. The rhythmic touch, combined with her steady heartbeat against her cheek, made Waverly’s thoughts go fuzzy, sleep encroaching like static.  
  
“Oh, that. Well, Sheriff trusts me. And I’m still the new guy. I think he’s hoping if I do enough good deeds, it’ll help offset my outsider status.” Nicole’s voice was matter-of-fact, with only the slightest edge of resignation. Waverly rolled her eyes and huffed a sigh into her tank top.  
  
“Ugh, this town can be annoying that way,” she grumbled. Nicole gave a tiny shrug, careful not to dislodge the woman in her arms.  
  
“I don’t mind that much. I mean, I’d much rather stay here with you, obviously.” Nicole nuzzled several kisses into her hair, as if in demonstration. “But duty calls.”  
  
With visible reluctance, she abandoned her pillow duties and made to stand, but Waverly held fast to one of her hands, tethering her to the bed before she could get away. The redhead laughed, gazing at her with a fondness so intense that it completely banished the cold from the room. She crawled back towards the blanket pile and leaned down for a real kiss, her free hand tracing patterns on the underside of Waverly’s jaw and making her shiver in a way that had nothing to do with the cold.  
  
Nicole pulled away, and this time Waverly let her go, instead sighing and rolling over to watch her retrieve a uniform from her designated drawer in Waverly’s childhood dresser.  
  
“You get how that makes it so much worse, right?” Waverly pouted at her, lips still tingling in the wake of the kiss, craving more. Nicole flashed a smile over her shoulder before pulling her tank top off. “I think the least you can do to make it up to me is turn around while you do that.”  
  
With a cocky smirk, Nicole obediently rotated on the spot, letting her girlfriend’s hazel eyes roam over her freckled skin.  
  
“See something you like?” she drawled, deliberately reaching down to pick a sports bra off the floor, offering an incomparable view of her upper body in all its glory.  
  
“You’re just doing that to torture me.” Despite the fact that they stayed together most nights these days, Waverly doubted that the sight of Nicole’s body was something she would ever take for granted. All that skin on full display made her fingers itch and her mouth water.  
  
Nicole winked at her before pulling on her bra and shrugging into her uniform shirt.  
  
“Maybe a little,” she admitted, doing up the buttons with nimble fingers, leaving the last few tantalizingly open. Waverly gave another theatrical moan, and Nicole scooped up a pillow from the floor and chucked it at her.  
  
“Your sister is going to think we’re at it again.”  
  
Waverly shoved the pillow away and sat up, keeping the blankets around her shoulders to keep out the cold of the room.  
  
“Well, I’d hate for her to get the wrong idea, wouldn’t you? Maybe you should come back to bed and make honest women of us,” she coaxed, offering a coquettish smile. In response, Nicole screwed up her face into an agonized expression.  
  
“Come on, you always do this right before I go to work and then I have to go on patrol all twitchy.” She walked back over to the bed, giving her girlfriend her biggest pleading puppy dog eyes.  
  
“You mean all _Haught_ and bothered?” Waverly taunted. Nicole groaned and buried her face in her hands.  
  
“Don’t you start. I get enough of that from your sister.”  
  
Waverly sighed melodramatically, but waved her away.  
  
“Fine. Leave me here to freeze to death, abandoned and alone.”  
  
Nicole arched an eyebrow, still sporting nothing but a pair of cotton shorts and her half-buttoned uniform shirt and looking entirely unbothered by the alleged temperature.  
  
“I think you’ll survive until I get back. But I will bring you some coffee before I leave if you want.” Nicole dropped another short kiss on her forehead.  
  
“Mmm, thanks.”  
  
Nicole touched her face once more, just a fond graze of her cheek, before she returned to the dresser and finished changing. Waverly watched with sleepy eyes, wondering how she got so lucky. That Nicole freaking Haught even _wanted_ her. That she had been willing to wait for her, even for those bleak months where she continued to date Champ “The Boy Man” Hardy and treated Nicole like a beautiful but dangerous new species of animal. A pure, perfect unicorn with a sharp, terrifying horn.  
  
The unicorn in question finished adjusting her belt and straightening her clothes, then made one final stop by the bed.  
  
“What are you thinking about?” Nicole asked, threading a hand into her hair.  
  
“Unicorns,” Waverly answered drowsily. Nicole grinned so wide her dimples showed, and she leaned down for one final kiss, slow and sweet.  
  
“I’ll bring you up some coffee later, but if you’re asleep I’ll just pour it into one of Wynonna’s open whiskey bottles and see if she notices later.”  
  
“You play a dangerous game, Officer Haught,” Waverly murmured, already half-asleep as Nicole tugged the blankets up to her chin. She was only half-aware as her girlfriend left the room, the warm darkness of sleep calling her back into its depths.  
  
When she awoke later, bleary and disoriented, the first thing she saw was her favorite mug sitting on her nightstand, next to a thermos with a post-it note stuck to the front.  
  
_See you tonight_  
  
Nicole had scribbled a heart below the words, and Waverly once again wondered how she had somehow managed to capture the heart of this wonderful, magical creature.  
  
She poured the contents of the thermos into the mug and could tell by the smell that Nicole had already added just the amount of sugar she liked, because _of course she had_. It was still steaming, and while she waited for it to cool, she reluctantly dragged herself upright and got dressed. The wind still howled at the window, and she went to peer outside.  
  
Today was not a day to be outside. There hadn’t really been anything resembling a dawn, just a slight lightening of the heavy grayness that covered the sky as freezing rain poured down in sheets. It was impossible to tell how late in the morning it even was. If the sun still existed, the sky showed no evidence of it.  
  
Shivering at the sound of the wind as much as the actual chill of the room, she picked up her coffee and her fluffiest blanket and carried them both downstairs. Wynonna apparently hadn’t made it down yet, so Waverly set up shop in the living room, curling up in her favorite chair and picking up the book she had left there last night, a dry but informative study of ancient Sumerian religious rituals.  
  
Before she started reading, she snapped a quick photo of herself on her phone, holding her coffee mug with Nicole’s post-it affixed to the front, facing the camera. She sent it along with a string of heart emojis and one unicorn.  
  
_W: Best girlfriend ever_  
  
Nicole responded almost immediately, which probably meant that she wasn’t officially working yet. For a woman who had willingly consummated their relationship on her boss’s couch, she was strangely reluctant to exchange personal texts on taxpayer time.  
  
_N: Wynonna’s whiskey lives to fight another day._  
_N: Stay warm today. It’s freezing out here._  
  
_W: You’ll be a cop-sicle by the time you get home_  
  
_N: Then you’ll just have to warm me back up_  
_N: Have to go to work now._  
  
_W: Call later if you get a chance._  
_W: And stay safe!_  
  
Nicole sent a final heart back before going silent. With a dreamy sigh, Waverly turned her attention to her book.  
  
Wynonna stumbled down not much later, looking tired and mildly hungover, but otherwise in good spirits. She walked into the kitchen, then immediately emerged to glare at Waverly’s coffee cup accusingly.  
  
“You made coffee but didn’t leave me any?” she grouched. Waverly smirked at her.  
  
“Nicole made this for me before she left.”  
  
Wynonna looked at the clock on the mantle, still bleary-eyed and frowning.  
  
“Wasn’t that back at the ass-crack of dawn?”  
  
“She put it in a thermos for me.” Waverly continued smiling, more than a little smugly. Wynonna made a face like she was going to be sick.  
  
“Ugh, gross. That’s way too much wholesomeness for this early in the day. It’s like you’re dating Captain America.”  
  
“She’s way hotter than Captain America,” Waverly said. Wynonna held up one hand in a ‘woah’ sign.  
  
“Debatable.”  
  
“She’s way better in bed than Captain America,” Waverly amended, and Wynonna lowered her hand, bobbing her head.  
  
“Okay, that one I’ll buy. He strikes me as a major prude, and judging by the sounds I hear from your room, Officer Do-Right is not that.”  
  
“I bet she’d be cute as a Mountie,” Waverly mused, enjoying the mental image of Nicole in a red uniform coat, astride a horse. Not that she needed to be any taller.  
  
“Right, you do that. I need coffee.” Wynonna slouched into the kitchen to make a fresh pot.  
  
The day continued in much the same way. It was a weekend, Dolls had given them the day off, and neither of them were even slightly inclined to brave the elements outside, so both sisters lounged indoors, Waverly reading and Wynonna playing with her phone and napping.  
  
During a lull between chapters, Waverly picked up her phone and tried texting Nicole.  
  
_W: Hey, how’s your shift?_  
  
She got up and made a cup of tea while waiting for a response, but there was no reply by the time she finished. So she sent another.  
  
_W: Getting lots of kittens out of trees?_  
  
_W: We’re trapped inside by this rain and it’s boring._  
  
_W: And freezing. I wish you were here._  
  
Nicole’s radio silence lasted another twenty minutes, until a single heart and two words bounced back.  
  
_N: Me too._  
  
Satisfied, Waverly got up from her seat, determined to do something productive as long as they were trapped inside anyway. The homestead was poorly sealed and the surrounding lands were dusty, which was not a good combination.  
  
She dug the vacuum cleaner out from the back of the closet and, in a fit of sibling shenanigans, made sure to turn it on right next to a sleeping Wynonna’s head. There was a flurry of limbs and cursing as she startled awake, while Waverly gave her her most innocent expression.  
  
“Bad dream?” she asked, after silencing the vacuum. Wynonna glowered at her without heat.  
  
“What brainless hicks voted you Nicest Person in Purgatory?”  
  
“You’re just jealous of my sash,” Waverly said simply, then started the vacuum again before Wynonna had a chance to argue. The older Earp stood and yelled something that Waverly was pretty sure involved the word ‘bike’ before stomping towards the door, mussing Waverly’s hair on her way out. The wind gusted in when she opened the door, and she had to close it with a loud slam.  
  
Once the ground floor was thoroughly vacuumed, Waverly returned to her chair and book, but first couldn’t help but shoot Nicole another text, just in case she had a free moment.  
  
_W: It looks really bad out there. You’re not outside, are you?_  
  
_W: Wynonna is in the barn working on our uncle’s old motorcycle._  
  
_W: Do you know how to ride a motorcycle?_  
  
_W: It seems like the kind of thing you would know how to do._  
  
It took two more chapters for Nicole to finally respond.  
  
_N: Yep to both_  
  
_N: But I’m out of practice._  
  
Waverly frowned and looked out the window at the lashing rain. It looked like her personal version of hell, wet and freezing with howling wind, and she shivered involuntarily just imagining it. Nicole liked to call herself ‘warm-blooded’ and ‘cold-resistant,’ but nobody could be comfortable outside in weather like this.  
  
_W: Stay safe_  
  
_W: And warm_  
  
_W: If you can_  
  
Nicole responded with a single heart.  
  
Waverly went back to her lazy day, building up a fire in the fireplace, puttering around the house, and occasionally doing minor chores. Mostly, though, she sat under a stack of blankets by the fire, trying not to picture Nicole standing outside, shivering in the falling sleet. As evening approached, she changed back into her pajamas and hunkered down with still more tea, watching the clock and holding her phone at the ready, waiting to hear that Nicole was safe and on her way back home.  
  
When her phone went off and showed her girlfriend’s adoring face on the screen, she answered before the first ring had even finished.  
  
“Hey,” she said quickly.  
  
“Uh, hey. It’s me.” Nicole’s voice sounded uncharacteristically hesitant and more than a little tired, and Waverly felt a wave of concern wash over her.  
  
“Yeah, I know it’s you. Are you on your way back?” she asked, listening hard for any further signs that something was wrong.  
  
“No, not yet. Um… actually, Nedley’s supposed to be here to take over, but he just called and said he’s having car trouble. Something with the starter in his patrol car. He thinks he’ll be in soon, but until then I’m stuck here for a little while longer.” Nicole’s voice sounded strained, like she was extremely unhappy about that fact but trying to be a good sport about it. Waverly pouted both for herself and on Nicole’s behalf.  
  
“That’s not fair.”  
  
Nicole sighed, a slow, exhausted sound.  
  
“No, but somebody’s got to be on duty and nobody else is answering.” Her voice was matter-of-fact and slightly dull, lacking its usual vibrancy. “I was just wondering… could you maybe meet me at my place? Instead of me going back out to the homestead? I know you prefer it there, but I’m just really tired, and I'm not sure I feel up to the drive.”  
  
She sounded so awkward and guilty for even asking that it nearly broke Waverly’s heart into a thousand pieces. Nicole rarely asked for anything— _never_ asked for anything.  
  
“Are you okay? You said you were outside earlier. You must have gotten drenched. And frozen.”  
  
“I did, but I’m fine. I’m okay. Really. Just a little worn down.” Nicole’s tone was brittle with forced brightness, and Waverly didn’t believe her for a second. “You know what, don’t even worry about it. I’ll just meet you at the homestead. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”  
  
“No, Nicole, seriously, it’s fine. I’ll meet you at your house. I’ll head over now. Don’t drive out here.” Waverly made sure to speak quickly and emphatically, before Nicole had time to talk herself out of it entirely.  
  
“Are you sure? You don’t have to. I know the weather’s bad and it’s a long way. I just really don’t think I could stand the drive, but I still really want to see you,” Nicole’s tone held a level of vulnerability that was rare for her. As emotionally expressive as she was, it was still hard for Nicole to be open about her negative emotions— sadness, anger, fear. She never ever hesitated when it came to showering Waverly with endless compliments and words of affection, and maybe a little light teasing, but she was uniquely terrible at correcting or contradicting her. Heck, she had even let Waverly serve her plain black coffee for an entire month before she finally got around to clarifying that she actually took it with copious amounts of both cream and sugar.  
  
“I’m totally sure,” Waverly said firmly, remembering Nicole’s face as she sheepishly, almost apologetically, stirred spoonful after spoonful of french vanilla creamer into her mug one morning. “Stay there, and call me when you’re allowed to leave. I’ll feed Calamity Jane and make sure the heat is turned up.”  
  
“Okay. Thanks.” There was a noise in the background. “Shit, that’s the phone. I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you later. Love you.” The call ended before Waverly could reply, which was a relief. This wasn’t the first time Nicole had used that word. In fact, it had begun slipping out more and more in everyday conversations. It was wonderful, each time like a god-given miracle, but also just a little terrible, because so far Waverly had been unable to say it back. Not because it wasn’t true— she did love Nicole, that was obvious even to her— but because actually saying it out loud seemed to trigger something scary inside her, some paralyzing wave of fear and insecurity. But Nicole had never called her out on it. She continued saying it freely, apparently without ever expecting to hear it back, which sometimes made Waverly feel like the luckiest girl alive and sometimes made her feel like the lowest scum of the earth.  
  
But even if she couldn’t bring herself to _say_ it, whatever the reason, she had sworn to herself that she would do everything in her power to _show_ Nicole that she loved her too. Sometimes that meant always making sure to put extra cream in her coffee, or making sure Nicole remembered to eat when her days were long and hectic. It meant whispered words of comfort during night terrors and heartfelt apologies after fights and a constant stream of inconsequential texts throughout the day.  
  
It meant knowing when Nicole was waiting on her to make the next move, and then summoning the courage to make it. And right now, it meant pulling her rainboots on over her pajama pants and driving though the horrible, freezing rain to make sure that the woman she loved didn’t have to go home to a cold, empty house.


	2. Welcome Home

Nicole trudged home through the battering wind and the spray of freezing rain, almost numb to it after a day spent in and out of the elements. Nedley had finally made it to the station, apologizing for the delay, promising her overtime pay and compensatory time off for the trouble, but Nicole had waved him off. All she wanted now was to go home. Unfortunately, his patrol car had well and truly died upon arrival, and she only discovered this after he had departed in hers. That left her with few options: Call Nedley to come back and drive her home, call Waverly to come out and drive her home, or just suffer through the six blocks of walking that would bring her to her own doorstep.  
  
She had chosen the last option, on the grounds that she could hardly get any wetter or colder than she was already, but five blocks later she found herself wondering what could have possibly possessed her to be so stupid. Already chilled and damp when she began, by the time she arrived home, she was sure her blood was slush in her veins. The cold sank its teeth all the way down to gnaw at her bones, and she could already tell it would be a miracle if she wasn’t sick as a dog by morning.  
  
She dragged herself up her porch steps, weighed down by her own exhaustion as well as what felt like ten extra pounds of icy water in her hair and clothes. She reached for her key in her pocket, but before she could even grab it, the door swung open, and a wave of light and warmth and sweet scents washed over her. And, far more importantly, the sight of Waverly washed over her.  
  
In spite of her highly compromised mood, a weak smile fought its way onto her face as her girlfriend, lit from behind like an angel looking down from heaven, pulled her inside and shut the door behind them with a palpable shiver. The air inside was warm, warmer than Nicole would ever set the thermostat on her own, and there were candles set up all around the room, wafting perfumed scents into the air.  
  
“Nicole, did you _walk_ here from the station?” Waverly demanded, gaping at her waterlogged uniform. Nicole nodded wearily, dripping a slushy puddle onto the welcome mat.  
  
“Nedley’s car wouldn’t start, so I let him use mine, and I was going to use his, but it wouldn’t start.” She blinked, her brain feeling sluggish. “Huh. Sounds kind of obvious when I say it out loud like that.”  
  
Waverly gave her an exasperated look, and Nicole briefly wondered if she was in trouble.  
  
“You should have called me. I would have picked you up.” The smaller woman was dressed warmly, in fluffy pajama pants, heavy socks, and a thick sweater. Still, Nicole didn’t like the thought of her voyaging back out into the cold if she didn’t have to.  
  
“It’s only a couple blocks,” she argued weakly.  
  
“Yeah, but look at you. You look like they just chiseled you out of a block of ice.” Waverly appeared thoughtful for a moment. “Huh, just like Captain America. Wynonna was right.”  
  
“What?” Nicole asked vaguely, but Waverly just shook her head.  
  
“Come here.” She tried to pull Nicole into a hug, but flinched back instinctively from the cold. Nicole could see goosebumps break out all over her arms. It was probably like trying to hug a melting snowman.  
  
“No, don’t, you’ll get all cold and wet, too,” she protested unconvincingly, before Waverly took on a more determined expression. With one forceful motion, she unzipped Nicole’s sodden uniform jacket, then slid her arms through the gap, wrapping them around Nicole and pressing her whole body against her.  
  
It felt so good, Nicole could have died on the spot. She had been craving this from nearly the second she had left the homestead that morning. Waverly’s warmth penetrated her frozen nervous system, waking her up and thawing her out. And then Waverly was pulling back, just enough to press her soft, pink lips to Nicole’s chapped, pale ones, and Nicole was in heaven. With one tilt of her head, Waverly’s tongue entered her mouth, banishing the taste of cheap break room coffee and replacing it with tea and honey. Waverly dedicated herself to kissing away every memory of the long, horrible day, until the deputy was literally whimpering in the back of her throat, her chest aching from the sweetness.  
  
When Waverly finally pulled back, it was like waking from a beautiful dream.  
  
“I’ve been looking forward to that all day,” Waverly sighed, bright eyes beaming up into Nicole’s.  
  
“Tell me about it,” Nicole murmured, still half in shock. She wanted to press their lips back together, for Waverly to breathe more life into her frozen flesh, but Waverly was sinking down onto her knees, out of reach. Nicole blinked down at her, her frostbitten brain grasping for an explanation. “What are you doing?”  
  
“Taking your boots off,” Waverly said simply, her hands busying themselves unlacing Nicole’s heavy weatherproof (well, more weather- _resistant_ , apparently) boots. The knots were tight and the laces were swollen with water and mud, making it a particularly onerous task. More importantly, it wasn’t a task that anyone had ever attempted to do _for_ her. Nicole shook herself a little.  
  
“No, I’m fine. I can do it.” Frowning at the prospect that she somehow couldn’t untie her own shoes, she reached down to take over, but Waverly swatted her hand away with a look of warning. Nicole had never been so confused.  
  
“I’m doing this. You just stand there and relax and let me,” her girlfriend insisted, with enough fire in her eyes that Nicole didn’t dare argue. Instead, she leaned back against the door and watched the odd spectacle of Waverly Earp carefully unlacing her boots. Once they were apparently determined to be loose enough, Waverly tapped her leg, and Nicole obediently lifted each foot in turn, letting her pull the boots off and set them on a small mat by the door. Having them off was more of a relief than Nicole had expected. She felt a foot shorter and fifty pounds lighter without them. Waverly seemed satisfied as well. She straightened and grasped Nicole by both hands. “There. Better, right?”  
  
Nicole nodded dumbly.  
  
“Uh, yeah. Much better.”  
  
“Good. Now come on. Let’s get you into some hot water.” Waverly began pulling her towards the stairway, but Nicole halted them at the foot of the stairs, digging in her heels. “What?” Waverly asked, frowning. Nicole screwed up her face in pained apology.  
  
“We shouldn’t leave candles unattended. It’s a fire hazard,” Nicole said. Waverly stared at her for a long moment before sighing.  
  
“You’re serious.” She shook her head. “Of course you are. Fine. Ruin my romantic ambience.”  
  
“They were really nice,” Nicole murmured apologetically as Waverly walked a circuit around the room, blowing out each candle in turn and occasionally shooting her playful glares over her shoulder.  
  
“They _were_. I went through a lot of effort to make everything warm and cozy and inviting, and you have to go and ruin it with things like _fire safety_.”  
  
“Sorry. It’s just… candles start a lot of house fires. And I have a cat who likes to knock things over.”  
  
“I'll get over it. You’re just lucky I think your white knight thing is so cute,” Waverly sighed. Nicole nodded so earnestly in agreement that it made Waverly giggle. “We’ll relight them later, when we come back, so they won’t be _unattended_.” Waverly shot her a final glare on the last word, before herding her up the stairs and into the master bathroom.  
  
“Okay…” Waverly started the taps on the bathtub, and Nicole started unbuttoning her shirt, her fingers still numb and clumsy from cold. Waverly shot her another warning look over her shoulder and she froze in place, still confused.  
  
“Waves, I’m tired, not invalid,” Nicole said, in case Waverly had been unclear on that point. Her girlfriend rolled her eyes, exasperated, and straightened to face her.  
  
“Well, yeah, duh, I know you _can_ take care of yourself. From what you’ve told me about your parents and college and the academy, it sounds like you’ve spent your whole life having to take care of yourself. And now also taking care of me, and Wynonna, and the whole town.” Nicole wanted to speak up, to tell her that she liked helping people, that it was what gave her life meaning, but Waverly wasn’t finished. “So _today_ , I want you to let _me_ take care of _you_. Not because you can’t, but because I want to and you deserve it. Do you get that?”  
  
Nicole stared at her for a long time while that concept sank in. So _that_ was what was happening. It seemed obvious now. Waverly wanted to take care of her, to take that burden of responsibility off of her, even down to something as small as taking off her own shoes or shirt. It was hard to wrap her mind around.  
  
“Yeah. Okay,” she said finally, the words feeling inadequate even as she said them.  
  
“Good.” Waverly stepped close again and took over the job of unbuttoning her shirt. Nicole closed her eyes and tried to make herself relax, tried to overcome the urge to say she was fine, that she didn’t need this, that nobody needed to bother with her. The words bubbled up in her throat, but she forced them back. It went against all her instincts. Just like Waverly had said, she had always taken care of herself.  
  
But then warm, gentle hands were pushing her uniform shirt off her shoulders, removing its cold weight, letting it drop heavily to the ground with a wet _flump_. And the hands continued, pulling her undershirt over her head and dropping it as well, then unclasping her sports bra and tugging that off, leaving her top half unclothed and covered in goosebumps as her chilled flesh contrasted with the warm, steaming air of the bathroom. And it was nice. It was nice to have that done _for_ her, just this one time. It was small, and simple, and unnecessary, but so, so nice.  
  
She opened her eyes and looked at Waverly, who was now reaching for her belt, and she waylaid her by hooking a hand behind her neck and pulling her into a long, grateful kiss.  
  
“Thank you,” she murmured, and Waverly smiled, eyes shining, probably sensing that she finally understood.  
  
“So this is okay? You don’t hate it?” Waverly asked, and Nicole shook her head.  
  
“It’s amazing. No one’s ever…” She didn’t even know how to phrase it in a way that didn’t sound lonely and pathetic. Luckily, Waverly didn’t need her to finish. She took Nicole’s cold, damp face in her small, warm hands and pulled her down until she could place a kiss to her forehead.  
  
“I kinda figured. Well, you have me now. So you’ll just have to get used to it.” Waverly released her and returned to the task of removing her belt.  
  
“Be careful what you wish for,” Nicole murmured, still a little dazed by all the attention. Waverly was right. Her parents had never been what anyone would call ‘nurturing.’ Nor were her string of college girlfriends. Nor was the police academy a place to be coddled. Even Shae, who was sweet in her own way, would never have done something quite like this. Nicole had always assumed that that was fine. She was tough. She was strong. She was self-sufficient. She could take care of herself. She didn’t need people fussing over her, or inconveniencing themselves for her comfort.  
  
But _god_ was it nice.  
  
Waverly finished divesting her of her remaining clothing, tossing each article into a pile in the corner that seemed to radiate coldness and misery. Her belt, gun and all, was gingerly set on the counter.  
  
It felt a little strange, standing naked and shivering right in front of her fully clothed girlfriend, but this had been a strange kind of day, and at this point, she was more than willing to give herself over to it. Especially if it meant more time with the woman she loved. The woman whose hands now cradled her face, warming her frozen cheeks and making her eyelids flutter. She tried to turn her head and kiss one of her palms, which made Waverly giggle and take a firmer grip.  
  
“Ready?” Waverly’s voice roused her from her stupor. Nicole nodded, and let Waverly guide her forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel so weirdly self-indulgent for even writing this. I just have this headcanon that early in their relationship, Nicole would get confused by Waverly's attempts to take care of her, because nobody had ever done it before. But then over time, she learns to love it and becomes the whiny elf we know and love.


	3. Warmer

Waverly slid her hands from Nicole’s frozen cheeks down her tense neck and shoulders, then all the way down to grip her hands. Her face was pale and drawn, and she was shivering.

“Poor baby,” Waverly murmured, rubbing Nicole’s chilled hands between her own, trying to massage warmth and life back into them.

“I’m fi—” Nicole started to counter automatically, but cut herself off, looking annoyed at herself. Waverly squeezed her hands. “Sorry,” Nicole sighed. “Reflex.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I know you’re not fine. But I also know you will be. In fact, I plan to make sure of it. And you know what a planner I am.” Waverly held her gaze expectantly, and Nicole granted her a weak smile. “Now get your cute little butt in the tub. I can feel you shivering.”

She tugged her forward towards the half-full bathtub, and Nicole followed automatically. She released her hands to let her get in, but Nicole staggered at the high step, swaying dangerously. On instinct, Waverly grasped her arm to steady her. Her entire body was visibly shaking, and Waverly considered for the first time that it might not just be shivering. Given the awkward way she stood and the stiff way she moved, she might not just be cold and tired, but maybe sore or injured as well.

Her determination to fix Nicole’s day doubled, and Waverly tucked her hand under her elbow to help support her. She could see the internal struggle in her eyes before she actually let Waverly take any of her weight. But she did let her.

Once stable, Nicole seemed to brace herself and then eased herself directly down into the water with a tired groan. She let out a gust of breath and shuddered at the change in temperature, goosebumps rising all over her body. _And speaking of rising bumps…_ Waverly quickly forced her eyes away from her girlfriend’s chest, her mouth going completely dry, and cleared her throat.

She had every intention of making tonight about Nicole and making sure she was safe and comfortable and taken care of, but she was only human, after all.

“So… is the temperature okay?” she made herself ask, in hopes of distracting herself. She pretended not to notice how her voice was a full octave higher than usual, and stared straight ahead with wide eyes, feigning an intense interest in Nicole’s towel rack and her (of course) blue towels.

“Yeah. God, I needed this,” Nicole sighed, her voice accompanied by the sloshing of water as she tried to get as much of herself as possible beneath the surface. Waverly nodded.

“Good. Well, you can tell me when you’re done. Just, uh, shout or something when you’re ready.” She stepped back, with every intention in the world of going down to the kitchen, cooking something warm, and sticking her head in the freezer until her hormones could get themselves under control.

“Huh?” Nicole blinked at her, confused for several seconds, until her expression suddenly cleared. “Wait, wait. Woah. Wave, you’re _leaving_?” She huffed a laugh, and Waverly blushed.

“Yeah? I mean, I don’t know, I thought maybe you wanted to wash up, or get warm.” She could feel her earlier sense of confidence waning. Nicole must have noticed, because her eyes did that shiny, heart-melting thing that was practically a Times Square billboard declaring her love.

“I do,” Nicole agreed. “And if you’d really rather wait downstairs, that’s fine. But Wave, I haven’t spent the past twelve hours daydreaming about the bathtub, I’ve been dreaming about _you_.”

Waverly felt the arrow hit her heart with a _thud_. This woman was going to be the death of her.

“Oh.” She met Nicole’s gaze for as long as she could before she had to look away, a smile fighting its way onto her face. “So, you want me to just… stay? Or… get in? Or… what?”

She had never been in a situation quite like this before, and even though she was the one who had started it, she felt a little off the map now. But that seemed to always be the way it went with Nicole. There was no map, no compass— just wonderful, terrifying adventure the whole way.

“Whatever you want. I have no ulterior motives. I want to get warm, and I want to be near you, and if both of those can happen at the same time, then that’s perfect. As long as you’re comfortable too.” As always, her words were so reassuring, so sensitive to Waverly’s feelings, that it made a lump appear in her throat. She must have gone too long without answering, since Nicole continued, her voice growing more cautious with every word. “I mean… you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Obviously. You can go downstairs. Or wherever. That’s fine. Or you can stay. It’s up to you.”

Her eyebrows were knitting together in worry, and Waverly quickly shook her head, trying to give her a reassuring smile, to dispel the growing concern in her eyes.

Of course, it made sense that even after her worst day, Nicole would still be worried about _her_. _Her_ comfort, _her_ feelings. Nicole cared. It was practically her defining characteristic. She cared about the town. She cared about the Earps. She cared about justice. And, far and above all else, she cared about Waverly. It was strange— and wonderful— to be someone’s first priority. It wasn’t something Waverly had experienced much in her life. And while she was usually more than happy to bask in the glow of that attention, tonight was about making sure Nicole knew the feeling was reciprocated.

“Baby, you’re being _super_ sweet, and it’s _totally_ on-brand. But I’m here to take care of _you_ , remember? So what do _you_ want, Nicole?”

Nicole glanced up at her and scanned her face, like she was trying to see if she really meant it. There was that hesitation again, that slight doubt that anyone would care about her preferences, and it made Waverly’s heart ache. Nicole only talked about her past in the most halting, sparing terms, but even from that, it was clear that she hadn’t been close— _really_ close— with many people in her life. But she must have accepted the question as real, since she did finally answer.

“Okay. I’d like you to stay. I missed you today, and I’d feel better having you close. If that’s okay.” Her voice was low and careful, almost tentative. Waverly softened her expression.

“Of course it’s okay. More than okay. I missed you, too.” She weighed her options. Getting in the tub sounded tempting, but also maybe crowded, and she wasn’t sure what exactly Nicole would expect from that action. Would they just both sit there and talk? Literally bathe? Cuddle? Have sex? The options seemed endless, and it seemed like there must be some right and wrong answer somewhere in the equation.

Her eyes drifted down Nicole’s naked body, blurred slightly by the water. Her throat pulsed once as she swallowed. Not trusting herself to know the right answer, she knelt down and settled into a sitting position near the head of the tub, facing away from it, her back resting against the cool porcelain. Once seated, she glanced back to see if Nicole looked disappointed by her choice, but her worried look had melted back into heart-eyes. As usual, it made it surprisingly hard to stay nervous.

“So… you could… tell me about your day,” Waverly said, as though she was just offhandedly considering it as an option.

“Absolutely.” The redhead offered a winning smile, and Waverly looked away, shaking her head.

“Okay. So. Bad day. Bad weather. Go.”

“Right…” There was the sound of more sloshing water as Nicole shifted, and Waverly thought she heard her breath catch, maybe in pain. But she launched into her story without complaint. “So I left the homestead this morning, stopped here to remind Calamity I still exist, and then headed into work. I was _supposed_ to be on desk duty all day, but because of the weather, the county wanted extra units on highway patrol, so I got sent out.”

“Makes sense,” Waverly acknowledged. “I mean, it still sucks, especially for you, but I get it.”

“Yeah, and they weren’t wrong. Visibility was shit, and a bunch of the roads near the river were flooded. And a ton of idiots were on the roads today.”

Waverly nodded, remembering the lake-like puddles of water and mud on the country roads. If she hadn’t spent her whole life driving on them, it could have been dangerous.

“Yeah, even just driving here, the roads were a mess,” she agreed. Nicole paused in her story, a guilty silence hanging in the humid air.

“I’m so sorry you had to—” Nicole’s voice was so overwhelmingly penitent that Waverly rolled her eyes and interrupted her before she could even finish the sentence.

“Stop. I can imagine this becoming a theme, so I’m officially instituting a rule for tonight. You are _not_ _allowed_ to apologize to me. Period.” She pointed a finger of warning at Nicole, who looked bemused by the command. “I came here because I wanted to. I wanted to see you, and I wanted to make you feel better, and you are _not_ allowed to apologize for that.” Her voice grew in strength until it reverberated off the bathroom walls. Nicole, looking both surprised and a little amused at her impassioned speech, nodded.

“Yes, ma’am. Won’t happen again.” She raised one arm out of the bath and held her little finger out to Waverly, dripping warm water onto her in the process. “Pinky swear.”

“Hey, watch it!” Waverly playfully pushed her arm away before her shirt got soaked entirely. Nicole looked guilty for a half-second, before taking on a puckish look.

“I would apologize, but I’m not allowed to. My girlfriend has _very_ strict rules on the subject,” she deadpanned, eyes twinkling.

Waverly rolled her eyes and reached back into the tub, splashing Nicole in the face with the water until she laughed.

“Very funny.” She flicked a few last drops of water at her for good measure, glad that Nicole still had any sense of humor after her obviously rough day. “Okay, so you were on highway patrol. And it sucked balls,” she prompted, motioning for Nicole to go on.

“Yes, it did. I pulled over a bunch of people just to tell them to slow down or recommend they take other roads.”

“I bet they loved that.”

“Just as much as I enjoyed getting out of my car to tell them.” Nicole smiled wryly.

“Poor baby.” Waverly stroked her cheek briefly, feeling some satisfaction from the way Nicole chased the touch, tilting her whole head towards it.

“It wasn’t _that_ bad until I got dispatched to help a guy who’d skidded off the road.” She let her head loll back to rest against the back of the tub, as though even remembering it was making her tired. “His tires were stuck in the mud, and he was _convinced_ that we could get it back onto the road without a tow truck.”

“And did you?”

“Eventually. Through a lot of cramming stuff under his tires and pushing. But I think it pulverized my rotator cuffs, and I ended up almost knee-deep in the mud. Hence the wet shoes. And wet socks. And wet everything.” Nicole grimaced, rolling her shoulders as though they were still bothering her. Waverly frowned at the thought.

“I hope he at least thanked you for that.”

Nicole rolled her eyes.

“He honked once as he drove off. That’s about it.”

Waverly huffed indignantly on her behalf, wondering if the man was a townie she would recognize. If so, she might have to have a talk with him.

“Jerk. You should have chased him down and arrested him for that.”

Nicole smiled wryly at the thought.

“I was more concerned with getting my spare uniform out of the trunk and changing out of the muddy clothes.”

Waverly raised an eyebrow at her, picturing the scenario.

“You just changed clothes in your patrol car on the highway in broad daylight?”

Nicole shot her an incredulous look.

“Broad daylight? Did you look outside today?”

Waverly rolled her eyes, debating whether to splash her in the face again or let her continue her story unscathed.

“You know what I mean,” she said pointedly. Nicole shrugged, and— _there it was again_ — flinched slightly, as if in pain.

“I thought it was worth the risk. I was freezing, and I looked like I’d been mud wrestling,” she admitted, and Waverly felt a pang of fresh concern. She tried to imagine the reality of Nicole standing in the freezing rain, helping this ungrateful idiot, pushing his car up to or even past the point of literal injury. And then just standing there afterwards, soaked and sore and caked with mud and probably just wanting to go home.

“That must have been hard on you,” she said, her voice several degrees gentler than before. “I know how much you care about keeping your uniform clean and looking all nice and professional.”

Nicole narrowed her eyes for a moment, apparently trying to tell if she was teasing or not.

“Yeah…” she agreed finally, wrinkling her nose adorably at the thought of her ruined uniform. Waverly made a soft, sympathetic noise.

“We’ll take care of it tomorrow.” She reached out again to stroke her fingers down the side of Nicole’s face, over and over again, until her exhausted girlfriend closed her eyes with a sigh.

“That feels good,” she murmured needlessly.

“That’s kind of the point,” Waverly pointed out, causing Nicole’s lips to quirk up in a smile. “Are you feeling any better?”

Nicole hesitated for a beat too long to be reassuring before answering.

“I’m starting to get warmer, I think. That’s helping.” She shifted a little, her movements still too stiff to seem entirely normal, and Waverly felt her resolve strengthen. She moved her hand to cup Nicole’s face, supporting the weight of her head as she leaned into the contact.

“Well, that’s a start…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, apparently this story still exists! I know it hasn't updated in a million years, but I've kind of been on a posting spree lately and realized that I still had most of this chapter on the back burner, waiting to be finished. And honestly, it's kind of the indulgent unabashed tooth-rotting hurt/comfort I'm kind of in the mood for at the moment. So hopefully this will hit the spot for everyone.


End file.
